Jesse Aliganga

Sergeant Jesse Nathanael Aliganga, a United States Marine Security Guard, was the only U.S. Marine killed in the 1998 Embassy bombing in Kenya.

Sergeant Aligana was serving at the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. On August 7, 1998, at the age of 21, Sergeant Aliganga was killed by a car-bomb explosion, along with eleven fellow Americans, in the terrorist attack. Sgt Aliganga was the only Marine who died in the attack in Kenya. This was part of a simultaneous massive terrorist attack in which car bombs were exploded at U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, killing 257 people and wounding over 4,000. The attack was later determined to be conducted by Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network.

Biography

Sergeant Aliganga, a Filipino American,^[3] attended high school in Tallahassee, Florida, graduating in 1994. In January 1995, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. Sergeant Aliganga attended Marine Corps recruit training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island, South Carolina. Thereafter, he trained as a communication specialist at the Marine Air Ground Combat Center in 29 Palms, California and at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. After training, he was stationed with the 3rd Marine Division at the Marine Corps Base in Okinawa, Japan, followed by service with the 1st Force Service Support Group at Camp Pendleton.

In early January 1998, based on recommendations from his superiors, Sergeant Aliganga was sent to the elite Marine Security Guard School, in Quantico, Virginia. Upon completing the rigorous training, Sergeant Aliganga requested the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. In late February 1998, his request was approved and he was assigned to one tour of special duty at the United States Embassy in Kenya, where he served until his untimely death on August 7, 1998.

Sergeant Aliganga was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. He is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.

See also

References

External links

• Aita, Judy (March 7, 2001). "Victims Retell Horrors of Nairobi Embassy Bombing in Court". International Information Programs. U.S. Department of State. http://usinfo.state.gov/is/Archive_Index/Victims_Retell_Horrors_of_Nairobi_Embassy_Bombing.html. Retrieved 2007-03-25. 

• Waldman, Amy (August 10, 1998). "Bombings in East Africa: The American Dead; Their Quiet Lives, Rendered Stark and Bold by the Manner of Their Deaths". New York Times: pp. Page A7. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30C15FE3D5E0C738DDDA10894D0494D81. Retrieved 2007-03-25. 

• "Historical Profile—Sgt Jesse Aliganga". Marine Embassy Guard Association. http://www.msg-history.com/historicalitems/HP_Nairobi_1998_Aliganga.html. Retrieved 2006-12-12.